Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS) grants worth $287,000 are in limbo, after the government imposed a freeze on new programs under the initiative.

The AAWS aims to develop long-term, comprehensive, national animal welfare policy on everything from livestock to companion and zoo animals.

Previous grants have funded a range of initiatives, including the setting up of representative bodies, the development of welfare standards and provision of animal welfare resources for schools, industry and others.

Last week, the Federal Government confirmed it was abolishing the group that drove the Strategy, the Australian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AUSAWAC). That group brought together representatives of livestock industries, researchers, veterinarians and animal welfare advocates to provide consensus advice to government on welfare policy.

Now the Federal Department of Agriculture has confirmed that eight grants for projects this financial year have been suspended, as the government tries to find savings in the Budget.

Participants were earlier told via email that there is currently "no indication of when a decision on AAWS grants funding and funding for the program in general may be known".

The affected projects included initiatives in the working animal sector, as well as work relating to companion and zoo animals, native animals and aquatics.

The Department of Agriculture says the freeze doesn't affect programs already underway, and that grant programs are being assessed "to ensure there is no waste or duplication and that spending aligns with policy priorities of the new Government".

"As a result of the decision to abolish the AUSAWAC, there will be budget savings through reduced administration, travel and accommodation costs and per diem payments to committee members," a spokesperson for the Agriculture Department said in a statement.

The Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, in defending the decision to scrap the AUSAWAC, said the Government needed to find savings in the Budget, and that responsibility for the AAWS and its programs would be taken into the Department of Agriculture.

In relation to the freeze on grants, a spokesperson for Minister Joyce said that AUSAWAC was one of 21 non-statutory advisory bodies to be abolished in the search for savings, and that, "as is normal practice for a new Government, grant programmes are being assessed to ensure there is no waste or duplication and that spending aligns with policy priorities".

"The Minister for Finance is currently assessing all grant programmes, including funding of projects recommended by AusAWAC, to ensure taxpayer money is spent on appropriate projects," the Minister's spokesperson said.

"This does not mean that the Government is not concerned about improving animal welfare outcomes. The animal welfare sector is not targeted specifically."